


Hard Knock Life

by tonysnxrk



Category: Ant-Man (Movies), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Hope Van Dyne, BAMF Tony Stark, Crossdressing, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Male-Female Friendship, No Romance - Subject To Change, Not A Fix-It, Not Steve Friendly, Parent Tony Stark, Protective Bucky Barnes, Slow Build, Tony Has No Time For Your Gender Roles, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Still Has Arc Reactor, Tony Stark-centric, should probably use that tag huh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:04:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonysnxrk/pseuds/tonysnxrk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite Howard Stark and Hank Pym's efforts, Tony Stark and Hope van Dyne became friends. And from that friendship came about a bigger group of friends. And these friends could take on whatever the world would try and throw at them, because they knew they'd never have to do it alone.</p><p>Even if what the world tried to throw at them turned out to be traitorous friends who'd take them all for granted. That just wasn't on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hard Knock Life

**Author's Note:**

> based off of my text post on tumblr (that i tried to link but didnt work), who knows how closely ill stick to it
> 
> this isn't beta-read, so any mistakes that you find are my own
> 
> i havent done any fanfiction in years, so i'm a little out of shape. please excuse the oocness of the characters, i still need to get my head around them
> 
> i have many ideas for this story, so hopefully i stay invested enough in them to get out many more chapters :D
> 
> edit: fuck i forgot to say what the overarching plot of this was fuck okay SO its just your typical "post-cacw tony stark actually has more friends this time and the ex-vengers arent gonna get a happy welcome from the accords group" type of fanfic. I REALLY ENJOY THOSE EVERY TIME SOMEONE TREATS TONY WELL IM LIKE GOOD!!!!!!

Tony poked his head around the corner, eyes peeled for any stragglers that might out his position to Howard. Seeing the coast was clear, he relaxed slightly and stepped out from the corner, taking in the paintings decorating the hallway.

Tony wasn’t actually supposed to be here. He was meant to be in the ballroom, standing by Howard’s side, making generic small talk and acting like Howard and Maria Stark’s cute young son to help soften up any potential business partners and political allies.

Too bad he wasn’t very good at acting cute for others, nor did he have any interest in helping Howard out. Tony would have much preferred continuing work on any one of his multiple robotic projects, or hanging out with Jarvis and Ana in the kitchen, learning to bake another one of their recipes. Or even playing the piano with his mum, enjoying their time together, doing an activity that Howard had yet to poison for the both of them. Those sounded like much better things to do with his time, but unfortunately he was stuck here. With Howard. Wonderful.

In Tony’s eyes, however, being stuck in the building didn’t have to mean the same as being stuck in the room. So, instead of of staying there and letting a bunch of strangers fawn over him and Howard having to pretend to love him, Tony snuck off the moment Howard seemed completely engrossed in talks with Obie about some new weaponry (and Tony saw the wink Obie had given him, after the party Tony would need to go and thank him for allowing him a brief window of opportunity), escaping the ballroom and heading off to the hallways outside.

And that was how Tony found himself standing where he was, standing in front of a bunch of paintings by himself, enjoying his time away from the hubbub of chatter and activity while he still could. He should have remembered to grab food first though. He hadn’t eaten the entire night, not wanting to hear any of Howard’s snide remarks about the food he’d choose. 

“Try to remember the kind of September,” Tony began to sing under his breath, eyes caught on one painting in particular (He’d have to tell the Soldier about it, he’d probably like the painting. Tony had heard him mumbling about freight cars before). “When life was slow and oh so mellow. Try to remember the kind of-”

“You have a nice singing voice.”

Tony violently flinched, not having expected anyone to sneak up on him. He whipped around to stare at the owner of the voice and found a girl staring right back.

“Uh, thanks, I suppose. I’m sorry, do I know you?” Tony asked warily. Before the party, Howard had gone out of his way to make sure Tony recognised all the other minors that would be attending (so as to better him -and by extension, Howard- in the eyes of their influential parents should they inevitably come across any in their rounds around the room), but the girl in front of him wasn’t ringing any bells. 

“I don’t think so,” she replied and offered her hand. “My name is Hope P- ...van Dyne. It’s Hope van Dyne.”

Van Dyne? That wasn’t a name he was familiar with. Perhaps she was the child of someone Howard hadn’t deemed important? Still, if the van Dynes had a kid with them it seemed stupid of Howard not to warn him beforehand, whatever the man’s thoughts on the parents.

No matter, Tony thought as he accepted the handshake and introduced himself in turn. If Howard didn’t think the van Dyne family were worth his time then he’d make sure to befriend every last one of them.

Hope hesitated for a moment after Tony introduced himself, and with a sinking feeling he thought he knew why.

“You’re a Stark?” she frowned at him and Tony only managed a smirk thanks to his years of practice. God, if Howard had managed to ruin this friendship before it had even began...

“Yeah, why? That a problem?” he asked, perhaps a touch too aggressively. Forget Howard, he was going to screw it up _himself_ \- but Hope quickly shook her head, face clearing as though she had never frowned in the first place.

“No, I know what that’s like,” she said, turning her head away from Tony to take in the same painting Tony had previously been admiring. “For the most part, the boarding school my father shipped me off to was more than welcoming, but there were always a couple of people who weren’t happy to have someone like me there. Nice painting, isn't it.”

Tony blinked at her, then turned to look at the painting again. That had been extremely unsubtle, but he went with it.

“Yeah, I definitely know what _that's_ like,” he muttered. It felt like Howard had screwed over so many people that finding someone who didn’t instantly judge Tony’s worth off of his name, be it in a social scenario or in an environment more malicious (however short-lived any kidnappings might be), was something he almost never expected. He’d supposed it was possible that his mum had some enemies as well, but then again, that would require Howard to let her have any moments in the spotlight apart from her philanthropist work. It was pretty hard to make enemies by being a philanthropist. No, apart from Howard the person that Tony knew was more likely to have enemies would be-

“Tony!” Another voice suddenly called out to him. But this one he definitely recognised and with a grin he spun around and safely caught the small body that had tried to jump him. He swung her around, revelling in the shrieks of laughter that escaped. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hope turning to look at the two of them but for the most part, Tony’s attention was on the girl in his arms. 

“That was dangerous, Goldilocks,” he tried to scold, but he was unable to contain his smile and judging from the eye rolling it was obvious Sharon could tell. Where she could have learned such sassiness, Tony genuinely had no idea.

“Nuh-uh! I knew you’d catch me! Who’s this?” she suddenly asked, cutting off any possible reply he could have made. What was she doing here anyway? As happy as Tony was to see Sharon, he definitely hadn’t been expecting her. After all, his mum hadn’t made any mention of Aunt Peggy coming, she knew how excited he got at meeting up with her so his mum definitely wouldn’t have kept it from him. That meant that something other than typical ballroom dealings had drawn Aunt Peggy tonight. And for whatever reason, she had brought Sharon along with her.

Sharon was staring at Hope intensely, as if noticing her for the first time. And with Sharon that scenario was entirely probable, for a young kid Sharon could have a ridiculously one track mind. Hope stared back, eyes flicking over to Tony for a quick moment. Guess it was up to him do introductions. For a moment, Tony almost wanted to ruefully smile. Looks like he’d be completing his mission of being a perfect party guest after all.

“Sharon, this is Hope van Dyne. Hope, this lovely little lady is Sharon Carter.”

Sharon perked up, wiggling a bit in Tony’s hold to stare even more intensely at Hope. That reaction, that was recognition. If Tony had been expecting any sort of reaction, recognition wouldn’t have been it. How did they know each other? Aunt Peggy had never mentioned knowing any van Dynes before.

And if Tony thought Sharon’s reaction was strange, it was nothing compared to the tension that had suddenly overtaken Hope’s body. Never before had Tony seen such a wary look directed at a kindergartener.

Could the van Dynes be the reason for the Carter family’s appearance tonight?

“You're Ant-Man and Wasp’s kid!” Sharon suddenly declared, giving a small nod and bringing Tony back into the present.

Wait. Ant-Man? That meant-

“And you’re Agent Carter’s…?”

“Niece!”

“Right,” Hope said stiffly.

Van Dyne may not have been a name he recognised, but Ant-Man certainly was. Ant-Man meant Hank Pym, a man that Howard had ranted about behind closed doors on several occasions. A former agent of S.H.I.E.L.D that had recently resigned after the death of his wife Janet Pym, the Wasp. Howard had been pissed off to no end that Pym had left, and had done his best to make sure everyone around him knew exactly the kind of mood he had been in.

After several more moments of Tony being in thought, Hope’s attention finally turned to him. Eyes flashing with an emotion so quickly Tony almost couldn’t place it. But he knew that look. It was the same look he had on his face after every social meet and greet, a look he’d see in the mirror after being forced to listen to another round of just how much like his father he was growing to be.

“You’ve got something to say?” she sneered at him in a complete turnabout of her previous disposition and Tony took a moment to curse out her family and everyone around her for making Hope this way. It wasn’t a reaction he was comfortable with seeing on other people, it hit too close to home.

“No, I know what that’s like,” he said instead, staring straight into her eyes. “For the most part, the boarding school my father shipped me off to was more than welcoming, but there were always a couple of people who weren’t happy to have someone like me there. And you’re right, it _is_ a nice painting.”

Hope hesitated, her eyes narrowing. “Are you mocking me?” she asked, balling and unballing her hands into fists. Tony just shook his head at her.

“I kinda wish I could say yes, but nope. Looks like shipping kids away to boarding school is a common pastime for fathers these days. Besides,” and here Tony put Sharon down (much to her displeasure, but apart from some annoyed glances she stayed quiet) to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder, “You didn’t judge me for being the son of Howard Stark. It doesn’t seem very fair of me to judge you for being the daughter of Hank Pym.”

Hope’s eyes shot to his hand. She looked off centre, clearly not having expected him to act the way he had. Tony didn’t think that was very fair, wasn’t he allowed to be non-judgemental too?

“So you do know that name,” she muttered, and Tony shrugged, dropping his hand from her and pretending he didn’t see the brief disappointment that appeared in her eyes. 

“Eh, Howard Stark’s my dad. Overhearing whatever confidential information he reveals in a moment of anger is basically a daily routine by now.”

“Our parents, they hate each other,” she said slowly as if to remind him, and good to know that Howard’s hate was apparently reciprocated. Tony beamed at her.

“I know, isn’t it great? Do you think this means Tony and Hope is going to be the new Romeo and Juliet?” he asked. Hope blinked at him, then a smile began to finally form on her face.

“Depends, will it piss off our dads?” she asked instead and Tony’s grin widened.

This was gonna be awesome. 

Between them, Sharon had furrowed her eyebrows.

“I don’t get it,” she said bluntly, apparently done with silence.

“Looks like we’re getting another cousin, Goldilocks,” Tony told her, holding out his hand and as Sharon grabbed on, her eyes went wide.

“ _Awesome._ ”

Tony could only laugh. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Hope still smiling, a helpless sort of happiness dancing around the edges of her lips and the corners of her eyes. Catching her gaze, Tony held his other hand out to her.

“C’mon, let’s go. As awesome as the painting is, I don’t think that freight car’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.”

“To where?” she asked, and Tony took a moment to think. Definitely not back to the ballroom, that would just upset everyone involved (except maybe Sharon, but there had to be a reason Peggy had let her wander off by herself). Tony knew that personally, he’d definitely wouldn’t be able to go back to the ballroom. There was no way he’d to be able to fake a smile after experiencing what felt like one of his his first real ones since Howard had sent him to boarding school. So where.. 

His stomach took that moment to tell everyone of its existence and even as Sharon giggled at him, he knew exactly where to go.

“The kitchens? Plenty of food with absolutely no one we’d recognise. Always a bonus at these kind of events.” 

The warmth in Hope’s smile was genuine as she reached out to take his hand.

“Then lead the way. I’ll be following.”

And to Tony, the way Hope intertwined their fingers together felt a lot like a promise.

**Author's Note:**

> wow can you tell i've never written any fanfiction in literally years and never for marvel before and that i have no idea how to write kids or tony stark or tony as a kid im sure it wasnt obvious at all lmao
> 
> Ages! Obviously for this AU ages are going to have to be swapped around. But roughly, Tony is twelve, Hope is ten and Sharon is four. (CHILDREN DO NOT SPEAK LIKE THIS IM SO SORRY - THEYRE SUPER SMART MATURE CHILDREN OKAY SHHHHH)
> 
> hope and tony being friends seems to be something thats gathering more interest in the fandom, so im just gonna say right now that any similarities to other stories aren't intentional. THESE TWO JUST WORK SO WELL TOGETHER. Ive been thinking about this fic for months!
> 
> Next chapter is going to be more of their meeting I think. Howard, Hank and Peggy are going to find them and things will go down.
> 
> so yeah, like i said its my first story in literal years so please be gentle with me! :D
> 
> edit: added more tags so people know what to expect!


End file.
